A goal lane of champions to commemorate the 19 goals scored in Tshwane during the six games of the World Cup that took place at Loftus Versfeld, has been established at the Tshwane Events Centre.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Tshwane Business and Agricultural Corporation, Wim du Toit says the lane of champions immortalises the nine teams – Ghana, Uruguay, Denmark, Cameroon, the USA, Chile, Spain, Paraguay and Japan – that scored.

The other participating teams were Serbia, South Africa and Algeria.

“South Africa has maximised this wonderful opportunity – the World Cup – to the fullest.  More than one million people came to our country in the last month and more than 32 billion people over the globe saw what we had to offer on television.  The mouths of the critics – here and abroad – have certainly been silenced.  This has indeed been an African World Cup of note.”

Officially opening the goal lane of champions today, Du Toit said as an integral part of the economic and social development of the City of Tshwane, the centre is committed to leaving a living legacy of the history that was made in South Africa’s capital city.

“We felt it fit to honour those countries and players by immortalising their names in this permanent goal lane of champions.  For generations to come, visitors to the Tshwane Events Centre will be able to rekindle the memories of one of the greatest experiences in South Africa and in Tshwane.

“However, the lane of champions goes beyond an ordinary monument.  It contributes towards a sustainable environment – hence the planting of 19 indigenous trees.  Apart from immortalising the winning goals in mortar and metal, the trees will assist in reducing the carbon footprint that events like the World Cup generate.”

Du Toit says the centre’s commitment to a sustainable environment is not new.

“When the greening of events centres became the norm, we took the lead and today we recycle more than 20 tons of waste every year via a four-recycle system – cans, glass, paper and plastic.

“Besides the centre’s grass cuttings, the nine tons of hay and animal waste generated during one of the centre’s largest events – the Tshwane International Show – are used as food for the 45 000 earth worms at the centre’s new earth worm farm.  The farm generates much-needed vermi-compost to nurture the extensive grass areas and more than 600 indigenous trees on the 39-hectare property.

“The construction of a biodiesel and gas plant is in the offing, while a nursery is being built to grow seeds from the vast array of plants and trees.

“Experiments on new products such as led fluorescent lighting aimed at bringing down electricity consumption are also part of the greening exercise.

“In 2010 we are operating green offices with less paper and electrical consumption, using  battery and electric vehicles on site, building a grey water catchment dam, buying green where possible and will measure and report on our sustainable green progress.

“Today is thus also reaffirming our commitment to go even greener.  We are finalising our environmental management strategy and will announce this in the near future.  And you will be our judges, so watch this space,” Du Toit said.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup has kicked off in South Africa. During the month-long tournament, millions of fans around the world will follow the games.

To mark the event, FIFA.com, the world’s official football website, and Google have collaborated on a range of online features to help supporters keep track of how each team is doing throughout the tournament. Whether you’re searching for FIFA World Cup news or want to voice your opinion on a player’s performance, we have a number of ways for fans to stay on top of the action:

• Follow your team while browsing the Internet: stay up-to-date when you’re online with the FIFA.com Chrome extension. Get a live feed of FIFA World Cup results, news and match statistics and if you’re supporting a particular team, personalise the gadget for alerts of goals scored by your team as they happen
• See the latest scores and schedules in search results: search for [world cup], [world cup spain], [world cup group g] and more, and you’ll see live scores, latest results and match schedules at the top of your search results. You’ll find quick links to game recaps, live updates, standings and team profiles on FIFA.com
• Follow the tournament on your personalised home page: get all the latest information on FIFA World Cup teams, players and matches streamed to your very own home page with the iGoogle Gadget. If you want to know more about where all the action is happening, click on the ‘venues’ tab to take a closer look at the stadiums
• Get a feel for what it’s like to be there:  FIFA.com and South African Tourism have used Google Maps to add information about the host cities, stadiums and attractions, giving people easy access to these sights with Street View and 3D views : maps.google.com/exploresouthafrica

Matt Stone, Head of FIFA New Media, commented:

“In a landmark initiative, the world’s greatest football site, FIFA.com, has teamed up with one of the world’s leading search engines, Google, to give the global community of football enthusiasts unprecedented ease of access to the news and information they crave. From live feeds to in-depth data on matches, teams and venues, FIFA.com and Google provide every Internet user with a privileged, personalised experience of the World Cup.”

You can get access to all of these features from FIFA.com and Google by visiting google.com/worldcup

The hotly contested local rivalry in South African football comes to a head at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates lock horns in the thrilling Soweto Derby. To commemorate this showcase fixture Nike has launched a special Kaizer Chiefs “Chiefs of Soweto” limited edition t-shirt as an opportunity to show support during this traditional sporting moment on the South African football calendar.

“The “Chiefs of Soweto” limited edition t-shirt forms part of the Kaizer Chiefs 40th Anniversary celebration and pays homage to the Amakoshi and its legends that have contributed to making the Soweto Derby one of the most intense and passionate events in South Africa,” says Anwar Jappie, Football Category Director for Nike South Africa. “As a brand we strive to add excitement around key sporting moments and we hope this t-shirt will assist supporters to really connect with their team this weekend.”

Kaizer Chiefs FC captain, Jimmy Tau

The t-shirt was locally designed by Amicollective, a Cape-based studio specialising in design, illustration, animation and fine art.  The limited edition t-shirt is a collaborative effort where the designers chose to use a hand drawn approach with thick outlines in black to emulate the way Kaizer Chiefs fans hand manufacture their fan gear. It was vital for the design team to give the artwork a human quality that fans could relate to.

“The brief from Nike was very clear with a firm focus on the Kaizer Chiefs supporter,” says Kris Hewitt, also known as Kronk, Designer, Amicollective. “This is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly, as football fans are not easily fooled and are very knowledgeable about their club. We definitely looked to the fans for inspiration, as Chiefs fans are amongst the most vibrant and well costumed fans around. Their slogans and handmade approach to their supporter gear was incredibly inspiring. This shirt is meant to confront the Orlando Pirates supporters in and out of the stadium, to show the pride and heritage of Kaizer Chiefs and pay homage to the loyalty of the Kaizer Chiefs fans.”

CTR360 Maestri Boot
The CTR360 Maestri boot has been engineered for enhanced passing, close control and effective distribution. Nike designers paid close attention to key zones of the boot, with the outsole adjusted to maximize a player’s ability to trap and control the ball, while the upper has been refined at the key contact points for receiving and distributing the ball.

The boot is made from a unique synthetic upper called Kanga-Lite, which delivers the fit and feel of soft leather, but with the performance qualities of engineered fabrics. For years Nike material technicians have worked on developing a synthetic solution that achieves the fit and feel characteristics of traditional leathers. Kanga-Lite delivers this solution with a supple feel and upper that performs well in any weather condition, maintains its shape and doesn’t soak up water.   

Nike Football+ Online Training Experience
Nike Football+ allows amateur players the chance to tap into interactive video-based tips and drills developed by Nike’s elite football players and coaches.

Included with all CTR360 Maestri boots is a card with a unique user code. When entered online at www.nikefootball.com this code unlocks unique user content to enable players to be trained by the experts. This training tool is also available as an Apple® App available for iPhone and iPod.  Nike Football+ ensures players can connect with each other tracking and posting scores associated with different training drills.

The Master Control training drills are conceived and demonstrated by coaches from FC Barcelona, while other content includes players such as Cesc Fabregas and Andrés Iniesta demonstrating their signature moves.

The Master Control coaching is the first edition of the Nike Football+ coaching program and later programs will focus on other skill areas such as speed and accuracy. Each of the three programmes is a 4-week training regime.

Nike Football+ can be accessed at www.nikefootball.com from October 1st.

The CTR360 Maestri boot is now available at retail.

Very interesting getting to know about a player’s contract, which normally club bosses wouldn’t be prepared to declare on the media. Just been reading on the Swazi Observer news website, that Swazi player Mfanafuthi ‘Taribo’ Bhembe, is unhappy with two clauses on his contract offered by Jomo Cosmos, which states that in a 3 year deal he’ll be earning R25,000pm, without any option to review his earnings during that period.

Also within the same contract the club has the exclusive right to renew his contract when it expires, without that option given to the player to exercise his preference. Continue Reading

Kaizer Motaung has done very well as a soccer entrepreneur by starting and growing Kaizer Chiefs into arguably the biggest soccer brand in the country. The same applies to John Comitis who owns Ajax Cape Town.

He’s built this club into a sustainable long-term business with fantastic infrastructure. Patrice Motsepe is a mining entrepreneur who has not shown any acumen in sports despite his noble and very grand intentions.

For Patrice, Mamelodi Sundowns is like a sideshow which he is not giving the attention it needs to be really financially successful. He is just throwing money at it with very little strategy. Then there is Dieter Bock who bought Moroka Swallows and is only seen once or twice a year at the club’s prize-giving ceremonies. Continue Reading

It’s impossible not to see and hear nears about how the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is imploding. At the heart of the matter is the R700 million the corporation has lost during the last financial year. The drama has included the resignation of the majority of the board members, the ongoing court dispute between the former CEO and the board, and it goes on.

However, what concerns some of us is the R100 million the SABC owes to SuperSport for its sub-licenses for televised Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches and cricket matches. The public broadcaster has already bankrupted, and almost bankrupted, most of its independent production houses by failing to pay these suppliers amounts reported to be about R55 million. Continue Reading

Believe it or not the South African Revenue Services (SARS) wants to make their own piece of history – they want to tax foreign soccer players at both the FIFA Confed Cup and the 2010 World Cup. This will be the first time that SARS has ever embarked on such a quest. Apparently the legislation now exists that allows SARS to do this.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which side you look at it from, this legislation did not exist during the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. A reputable daily business newspaper reported that the foreign soccer stars would be subject to a 15% tax on amounts earned from all matches played in South Africa. Continue Reading

The first of the brand new stadiums being built for the 2010 World Cup has now been completed a full year ahead of the tournament. I’m referring to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. This is a very big psychological milestone for preparations for 2010 as it will hopefully ‘unblock’ all the obstacles facing the other new stadia so that they are all finished in good time.

The Eastern Cape has been greatly affected by the plummeting fortunes of the motorcar industry and hosting the 8 World Cup matches that it has been allocated could help to kickstart the economy of this region which is heavily reliant on the motor vehicle Industry – VW, General Motors and Mercedes Benz (Daimler-Chrysler) are all based here. Continue Reading

South Africa is indeed a land of contrasts. Sections of this country are third world and others are first world. The country has just joined an elite group that have had the privilege of hosting the FIFA World Cup – no mean feat at all. Our football enjoys sponsorship which is way above the level of any other African country, despite lagging behind rugby in this regard. Definitely, light years behind Europe, but heading in the right direction all the same.

There is one serious pre-season revenue stream that only Al Ahly of Egypt gets to enjoy on a regular basis, thanks to their recent successes in the CAF Champions League. I’m referring to prestige friendlies. Real Madrid is headed for the 2009 edition of the Peace Cup – a tournament a couple of our clubs have been to – where they will play the likes of Sevilla, Juventus and Olympique Lyonnais amongst others. Continue Reading